The prospect of civil war erupting across the English game loomed larger on
Friday when Premier Rugby launched a wide-ranging assault on the Rugby
Football Union in the aftermath of England's dismal showing at the Rugby
World Cup.

War party: Premier Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty (left) and chairman Quentin Smith are furious at the RFU's reaction to England's dismal showing at the World CupPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Premier Rugby, the body that represents the professional club game in England, was scathing in its criticism of the RFU’s decision to set up an external review of the game’s governance and questioned the credibility of Fran Cotton to lead that inquiry.

It also laid blame for England’s dismal showing on distracting ructions at the RFU, spoke of the union’s “bad behaviour”, questioned its legal right to issue a 14-day deadline to Martin Johnson and revealed that it had apologised on behalf of the professional game to the New Zealand union for England’s antics over the past two months.

“This has not been crisis management, it’s been panic management,” Premier Rugby chairman Quentin Smith said. “We apologised because we felt the New Zealand union does not have any right to have such a wonderful tournament tarnished by bad publicity and bad behaviour. We’ve apologised for what happened and for the absence of contrition from others.”

As for the future of the England manager, Smith was baffled as to how he could be put on the spot.

“I know of no employment law that can create a deadline for an employee to make such a decision,” Smith said. “It’s not clear to me why that’s in the public domain.”

Premier Rugby’s patience with the RFU has finally snapped, triggered by the way it has handled matters over the last six months and specifically, the last six days.

The decision of acting RFU chief executive Martyn Thomas to announce on Thursday that Cotton would be fronting an independent review was met with incredulity by Premier Rugby, established partners in the joint venture Professional Game Board that helps run the professional game.

“Would you entrust the future of the professional game in England to the PGB or would you entrust it to [the RFU], from what we have seen in the last six months?” Premier Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty said.

“The actions of the RFU are inseparable from what we’ve seen in the last few weeks. It provided the worst possible backdrop to World Cup preparation. The game is coming to that decision point in the next few weeks. The professional game has got to be run by professionals.”

Thomas was at the PGB meeting on Sept 8 when due process for a thorough World Cup review was put in place. He sees no potential conflict between the reviews commissioned.

“The Cotton Review is designed to be much more far-reaching in that it looks at the entire elite rugby department across all representative England teams and is not just confined to the World Cup,” Thomas said last night.

“We all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet if we are to do our best for English rugby. We too have made our apologies. It’s a sad state of affairs when England have made no friends and made no significant contribution to an excellently-organised tournament.”

Premier Rugby was surprised that Cotton had already made his feelings known about the activities of Mike Tindall and England’s off-field indiscretions.

“In most walks of life that would eliminate your ability to run that inquiry independently,” McCafferty said. “The union has got to ask itself if that report will have any credibility.”

Premier Rugby is unimpressed by the manner in which an external review has been foisted on it. It learnt of it when bumping into senior figures of the RFU in a hotel lobby on Thursday.

“We were informed in a very impromptu set of circumstances,” McCafferty said. “Once again, we’re disappointed that the union has not taken the opportunity to involve us in the process.

"Thursday’s events took us by surprise. It does cut across us and we’re perturbed to say the least. It beggars belief the way in which the union has been reacting on such a short-term basis. Ours is not a knee-jerk review, it’s a forensic review.”

Over several weeks, the PGB had put in place a thorough appraisal process. “We sought to cover ever eventuality, from elimination at the pool stage to winning the World Cup,” Smith said. “We stress-tested everything. Oct 23 was to be the embarkation point with a report due by Nov 17.”

The PGB also encompasses the players’ union. A questionnaire had been drawn up with their input and approval.

There was no mistaking the anger of Premier Rugby representatives although they have shied away from the moment of breaking off relations. “But their action risks fragmenting the group,” McCafferty said. “We wouldn’t ever want to withdraw from the Professional Game Board.”

That view was endorsed by Smith. “We’re not going to make a breach because of the bad behaviour of others. Our responsibility is to do what we can to bring probity and integrity to the process.”

A RFU council meeting on Dec 2 is due to pass judgment on the reviews.